Key Peninsula Firefighters Climb for the Cure

A four-person team from Key Peninsula Fire District 16 scored well at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s 33rd annual firefighter Columbia Tower stair climb in Seattle March 10.

The route includes 69 flights, 1,356 steps, and a 788-foot elevation gain to reach the Sky View Observatory on the 73rd floor.

The annual event sold out with 2,000 firefighters participating to raise funds to find cures for leukemia and lymphoma, according to LLS.

All climbers race in full bunker gear in facemasks and helmets, breathing air from tanks strapped to their backs. The Seattle climb is the world’s largest on-air contest.

“You go in your firefighting gear so everyone can see how hard that is,” said KPFD Public Information Officer Anne Nesbit. “It’s about 75 pounds all told. It’s supposed to be hard, like what cancer survivors endure. That’s what it’s all about.”

In his first climb for KPFD, Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician Andrew Pittman, 41, finished in 18:36, coming in 198 out of 1,093 racers who finished the climb. The fastest time was 10:03.

Gig Harbor FF/EMT Daniel Hansen, 36, finished in 18:58, ranking 229. Hansen moved from KPFD to Gig Harbor Fire & Rescue in February but was allowed to compete with his old team, which he founded in 2020.

FF/Paramedic Adam Morse, 35, finished in 25:11, ranking 657.

FF/EMT Ami Shipp, 42, finished in 27:09, ranking 751. Shipp first competed as a volunteer in 2020. This was her second climb as a professional.

Each firefighter must raise a minimum of $300 in donations to participate. At press time, the KP team had raised $3,819, with more to come according to Nesbit. The event raised $1.9 million of its $3 million goal. Firefighters have raised over $28 million since the first LLS stair climb in 1991.